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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Marie-Antoinette makes it to Le Grand Palais

For some reason queen Marie-Antoinette is probably the most famous French queen in the world. Most of the people remember her 1) because she was beheaded during the French Revolution - well technically, slightly after - and 2) because she's supposed to have said "If [people] have no bread, let them eat cake". I say supposed because apparently this quote already existed in a book written in 1736 [Les Confessions] by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a French Swiss writer). Anyway, they're currently having an exhibition about Marie-Antoinette at Le Grand Palais which has good reviews. I went last night but taking photos is prohibited, so I stayed at the entrance... Hope your Easter [for those who celebrate Easter!] weekend is doing OK, mine just started!

Eric we were just talking about Marie Antoinette here a couple of days ago. And I have read in Vogue magazine about this exhibition. I knew the queen was heading towards Le Grand Palais and I sighed... if only I were in Paris I could go see it...

I don't know exactly why but I'm fascinated by Marie Antoinette's story. To be the most glamurous and famous (Madame Déficit) queen and to end up in a small ugly cell with her her cut in Conciergerie is quite a story.

Last year when visiting Versailles the part I enjoyed the most was her Petit Hameau. Besides being a beautiful and peaceful place, it's ironic to see how a monarch would prefer to live there instead of a pompous palace. Of course I had to visit Conciergerie too and I was very impressed by everything I saw there.

Guille: "Do you mean that you were invited BUT didn't GO in because of your camera?"

Now this is an exhibition not to be missed! Although it would be good, at some point in the not too distant future, to see one featuring the lives and achievements of other female luminaries of the period: e.g. Madame de Pompadour, Madeleine de Scudéry, Madame de Sévigné, etc. Compared to these women, Marie-Antoinette was merely a spoiled, celebrity-seeking sycophant. Which isn't to say that she deserved to be guillotined - but who did?

For those living in or near London, don't forget that the Royal Academy of Arts is currently hosting two important exhibitions: one of art from Russia's major collections, the other a survey of Lucas Cranach the Elder (c.1472–1553).

Larger than life. An exhibition I'd love to visit ... if only our dollar weren't so weak ... I'd come spend a week. Of course we have a wonderful Roman exhibit happening at the moment here, but somehow it just won't be the same.

I just want you to know you have inspired my own Long Island Daily Photo on blogger. In case you are not familiar, Long Island is an island semi-attached to New York City & doesn't always have the best reputation, but it is quite beautiful in many ways despite its overcrowded ugliness. I love your blog & it is my dream to visit Paris someday. Your PDP posesses much positive energy. I hope mine will be equally uplifting & interesting.

Monica - I could not agree with you more! I have had a total girl-crush on Marie-Antoinette ever since the first time I set foot at the Palace of Versailles!! I just read an interesting novel about her written in the first person, called "Versailles" by Kathryn Davis. I am so sad that I cannot see this exhibit - oh how I wish you could take photos inside, Eric!How long will the exhibit last? I won't be in Paris until late October - boo hoo!

I'm not sure that I'm interested in the exhibit (only Lucio could make it possible interesting for me), but I do like the composition.

I did want to say how nice it is when you all look out for those who go missing for a while...i.e., PHX-CDG. I know when I'm gone and come back to comments such as "where is Michael these days?" it really make me feel part of a community. Ahhhhhh

To avoid complicationsShe never kept the same addressIn conversationShe spoke just like a baronessMet a man from ChinaWent down to Geisha Minor(Killer, killer, she's a killer Queen)Then again incidentallyIf you're that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris (naturally)For cars she couldn't care lessFastidious and precise

*Chorus*

Drop of a hat she's as willing asPlayful as a pussy catThen momentarily out of actionTemporarily out of gasTo absolutely drive you wild, wild..She's all out to get you

*Chorus*

Recommended at the priceInsatiable an appetiteWanna try?You wanna try...

Rose : you are absolutely right, I am afraid! I forgot the rule you reminded me of! Bouhhh.... Yes, the PDP GF's award is strictly inspected by some of you here and that's why we do like it a lot! You make the Official GF contest last as a solemn time and thank you for that! OK, (sigh), as it was not my first time and because I want to be fair, I agree Tall Gary deserves the title for today ; his comment was strictly conform to the PDP Constitution, which made me laugh so much, the time you all wrote it - some weeks ago! Then Tall Gary, if you want to come back here and take your prize, it is yours! True congrats!!And just for kidding some of you girls ;), I'll add that I was, at least, first to be here, just under Eric's eyes! That's not so bad after all ;))

Oh sorry Marie-Antoinette, I totally forgot you here... I am interested in the exhibit, like in most of all the exhibits at Le Grand Palais.

Michael: That's very flattering, Michael! Actually, I think I'd rather enjoy taking tours of galleries and special exhibits. Do you think it would be possible for me do this professionally - on a casual basis, that is - while I am resident in Paris? Would there be, for example, enough English speaking expats who might be interested in such a thing? If so, how would I go about arranging it in advance of my arrival?

By the way, I think you should go and see the exhibit anyway and give us all YOUR review of it!

Tall Gary, you are so talented!!! I am almost without any voice by such a comment!! May I only hope i will NOT end like her!!;)I am happy you were THE GF of the day and you came back and took your award! I have to go outside now so I cannot tell more but nice to meet you !! See you later!

I recently discovered your blog and I am glad I did! And now to discover this exhibition as I am reading MA's biography ánd looking forward to my 8th visit to Paris in May! This will be on top of my list.

lol Michael yes it's good when we are missed. Of course we miss YOU a lot, because you are always jetting around the world. We still fight over you in your absence, even so. I really wish i'd thought to post Queen. Doh! Great song, great showman.

Phx is in London? Why would she want to go there when she could be in Cheltenham? :i

It's the beginning of my Spring Break so I have slept a little late and thus am late in posting. Comme d'habitude. :)

I have been to Versailles and found it very gaudy, almost "tacky" (to use a very American word). The water and light show in the summer is fabulous though. The Conciergerie left me in tears because I could still feel the fear of those who were kept there. I am really missing France right now, especially Paris--I keep seeing these programs on tv and yesterday I bought a beautiful book of pictures and history of France. It will live in my classroom.... once I get my own room.

Oh, by the way Eric, the other day I found out that I may be teaching an Advanced Placement French class next year. I'd like to use your blog as an ongoing assignment--where the students would need to pick a picture from the previous week and then either describe it in French or write a little story (en français, bien sûr) with the picture as a prompt for it. You have such a fantastic variety of images that I think my students would really benefit.

Great photo, of course and I'd love to go to that exhibit. Did you watch the movie "Marie Antoinette" with Kirstin Dunst? I loved the colors of the clothing and foods they used, a kaleidoscope of color!Have a happy Easter!

Pont Girl, i read that same novel a while back and I really enjoyed it, too.Marcia, I love that idea as I would have adored it when I was taking AP French, it would have been much more interesting that the boring study guide prompts but still have enough variety to prepare for the many situations that may show up on the exam. And make sure your students know the word for leprechaun, you never know when it may come in handy on the exam and impress the graders, my entire class managed to use the phrase "un farfadet, tout vert et mignon" which hopefully was correct...

Re: Michael's reference to Queen's "Killer Queen" I say bravo! Sidenote: Freddy Mercury once said of the tune back in a '74 interview that it shows how "classy people can be whores" too but "read into it what you want." Interestingly enough, Brian May thought that his guitar playing on that particular tune was one of his best ever put on record. Who would disagree? The tune rocks!!!

you are right, Monica, I am in LHR right now and CDG on Wed.Just HAD to see all the pix.I missed in the past few days. Don't have time to read all the comments, but Tall Gary is the GF award winner....he made his comments on the picture, a necessary requirement!!!!Send me your CDG dates, Monica, what a surprise!

Yesterday, by sheer coincidence, one of my local television stations aired the documentary "Le Petit Theatre De Marie-Antoinette". It was a fascinating insight into the mechanics and protocols of this almost intact venue, and I recommend that you see it if you are interested in what a performance there might have looked and sounded like in M-A's time. Which is not to say that Coppola's film fails in this regard - it doesn't - but there's nothing like a "behind the scenes" tour provided by an expert on the subject.

On the other hand, while Coppola did manage to make an opulent film, it is almost as superficial as its subject - which some might find apt, but which I found annoying. Perhaps she should have chosen a truly interesting eighteenth-century woman, like Madame de Pompadour.

Lucio I guess one has to read Marie Antoinette's biography by Antonia Fraser to understand the point of view that Sofia Coppola was framing. It's not by chance that she didn't show the queen's story after she and the king were arrested. She wanted to show exactly how futile life in Versailles was, and, according to Antonia Fraser (and reinforced by Coppola) Marie Antoinette was a victim of it, seeing that she was just 14 when she arrived there and there was not much to do then but follow the protocol.

I agree with you, a film about Madame de Pompadour would be very very interesting.

Monica: I've read Antonia Fraser's book, and understand your point, but I still think the film, as a social history, is incredibly slight.

If, on the other hand, it was intended as a mere entertainment, then it succeeds in spades! But if that was the intention, why make an historical film at all? Besides, do we really need an(other) entire film to tell us that Versailles in the 18thC was the capital of fatuous vanity, and that M-A was a victim of political circumstance? On top of that, I think Sophia's postmodern histrionics do more to cover up her film's lack of real substance than to make its story relevant to a contemporary audience (Michael Winterbottom's 'Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story', made at around the same time, does it much better).

If you want to see a truly excellent film about the royal court of Versailles (but in the time of Louis XIV), I highly recommend Patrice Leconte's 'Ridicule' - assuming you haven't already seen it. Elegant and excruciating, witty and sexy, grand and gaudy, it fuses fact and fiction in a way that few films of its type ever have, and ever will.

Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with liking Sophia's film for what it is, and always will be. Only let's hope someone with a more mature imagination comes along to make the film of Madame de Pompadour's life!

Lucio I like to read about your point of view. I will look for this film 'Ridicule', I love films that portrait this period of history.

Again I echo you, I think a movie about Madame de Pompadour would be great. Talking about movies, have you seen the film "Napoleon Bonaparte" with Daniel Auteil and Monica Belluci? I haven't seen it but I always see it on the shelf of Blockbuster. So I was wondering if it's any good and then I'll rent it.

Monica: I'm so glad I didn't offend you. And no, I haven't seen the film you mention, but I will hunt it down now that you have brought it to my attention.

Did you know that one of Stanley Kubrick's unfinished projects was a film about Napoleon? The Kubrick exhibition, which toured here a couple of years ago, featured a section with just a tiny portion of his research. There were piles and piles of books, and a wooden filing cabinet jam-packed with index cards, detailing all the material he had examined in the course of his preparations - the breadth and depth of which I found truly awe-inspiring! It's such a shame he died before being able to make even an attempt at shooting his film. He did, however, get to tell a story set in the eighteenth century, which many find dour and stodgy, but which I have always liked: 'Barry Lyndon'.

You'll be very happy to know that the first thing my history teachers told me (and my classmates) when they started teaching the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette was that she most definitely did not say "Let them eat cake." Most history classes nowadays try to focus Marie Antoinette as a person, so we're getting a more well rounded picture of her. I wish I was in France to see the exhibit--I was so excited when I read about it in the New York Times!

Lucio I've seen Barry Lyndon but many many years ago. I have to watch it again one of these days. I did not know about Kubrick's project. Too bad he didn't get to do it, I'm sure it would be a good film.